PHYTEC Board Support Package

Development of an Embedded, Linux-Based Board Support Package

CUSTOMER PROFILE

PHYTEC is a company based in Germany that was founded in 1986, and since its very beginning remains a majority, family-owned enterprise. PHYTEC was the first company that launched an OEM-able module based on a Siemens 8051 8-bit microcontroller, and to this day continues to support cutting-edge application processor technologies on its System-on-Modules. The company also offers a complete set of services, such as systems integrations, hardware and software design, mechanical design, manufacturing, etc. It has locations in Germany, North America, France, China and India.

Challenge

PHYTEC required additional software technology capacities and expertise for the creation of Board Support Packages for its hardware products. PHYTEC wanted to engage on a short notice experienced specialists with deep expertise in embedded development, as well as with practical experience of developing and adjusting modules for different types of hardware. The initial challenge of the project was to develop a fully functional BSP for a brand new PHYTEC hardware based on the latest i.MX6 CPU. The PHYTEC’s goal was to bring this innovative product to the market within aggressive timeframe.

SOLUTION

SaM Solutions engaged its embedded-software specialists to begin the development of the Board Support Package (BSP) in a matter of days. The development included Linux kernel porting, and the development and adjustment of modules for various peripheral hardware components such as: LVDS, HDMI, touch controllers, SPI NOR, NAND, SATA, Ethernet, Wi-Fi, ext2/ext3/ext4, DVFS, USB OTG, I2C, CAN, PCIExpress, audio, PEB interfaces, camera interface (with various sensor), GPU, GPIO’s, thermal sensors, and more.

SaM Solutions studied initial board prototypes and their technical specifications and delivered a full board support package to meet all product requirements of PHYTEC. The resulting BSP is application development-ready, offering all essential drivers and board-level feature support. This way the end-users of the product can focus on their business needs and required application features, while the board and the BSP take care of the rest.

The Linux Package delivered by SaM Solutions to PHYTEC included the following components:

Technologies

Languages

Technologies

Platform

ARM: Freescale iMX.6 (with PHYTEC PBA-B-01 phyFLEX), TI OMAP 5

Development Environment

Debian GNU/Linux, Jira, Git

SUCCESS

The cooperation between PHYTEC and SaM Solutions has grown into a mutually beneficial partnership. PHYTEC has obtained a reliable partner complementing its software technology capabilities with flexible capacities and state-of-the-art software technology expertise. The quality of the delivered firmware by SaM Solutions has enabled PHYTEC to accomplish its goal of delivering innovative high-quality products to its customers as quickly and efficient as accustomed, in a time when internal resources where tied up with other projects.